Fringe Observations: 3.06 6955kHz

We dive deep into the mythology, symbolism and resonating factors to explore the meaning and unlock the interconnected mystery of Fringe.

Number Station

The clue for this episode, hidden in the previous episode, was indeed the 6-9-5-5 visual – in reference to the broadcast at 6955 kHz in this episode. Even more clever because the clue literally was a ‘number station’.

Inner Circle

Spirals are widely present in nature. Are they the signature of a creator? Thematically speaking, I’ve long considered the spirals emphasized in Fringe to describe both the cyclical nature of the show and the ‘parallel pull’ between the two universes, who seem to travel in similar inward circles.

Speaking of circles, there seemed to be quite a fewof themembedded in the episode. Serving to highlight the infinite nature of the themes on show, and the endless cycle of creation and destruction.

Petah, I Love U2!

We know from Altlivia’s reaction in “The Box” that Bono is not a famous music artist in the alternate universe. Seemingly U2 did not form. Altlivia did take a shining to Bono when she saw his picture in a magazine, prompting Newton to warn her of all the shiny things Over Here.

We know that Altlivia likes music – has she been catching up with U2’s music since finding out about them? (“I love U2″, she exclaims). Is this what prompted Peter to get her tickets to a U2 concert? Or is Peter just that perceptive. Yep, probably the former.

Reversed Messages

Walter: “A reel-to-reel. I used to have one exactly like this. I remember hours spent ripped out of my gourd spent listening to Beatles albums backwards for secret messages. They weren’t there”

Walter’s reference about hidden reversed messages and the symbolism of the ‘reel-to’reel’, briefly made me wonder whether we have heard the numbers (or similar hidden messages) previously in “Inner Child”, when the team attempted to translate the thoughts of the mini Observer:

(Warning: the two audio files below are quite loud!).

The Child’s Thoughts:

The Child’s Thoughts Reversed:

But alas, there doesn’t seem to be much in that given that the number broadcasts were in actual languages. That said, there is almost certainly a connection between the Observers and the First People, and it’s worth mentioning that the child was discovered underground, much like the pieces of the device.

Deal Or Mole Deal?

We’ve seen a lot of boxes throughout the seasons and this latest episode continues that trend. With each box we come across we seem to be delving deeper into the story. You can insert your Pandora’s Box symbolism here.

With the discovery of 37 more device locations, has the biggest box of all been opened?

Under-lying Messages

As we’ve seen in the past, Fringe builds it stories in layers, often subtle thematics or references gradually grow into the central messages of the story.

The two waves represented in the image above also seem to play into this idea. As well as representing the number broadcast (top wave) and Walternate’s underlying memory scrubbing pulse (bottom wave), they also illustrate the parallel storytelling.

Reinforcing the idea that the episode (and the show in general) comes attached with an underlying message. Personally speaking, this episode did seem to pull me in two directions. And I think it’s safe to say that Fringe has always come with hidden messages, clues and context.

Whether they intended to elaborate through this visual or not, I think it’s a pretty neat way of illustrating the parallel story that is being told.

Blinke-red

Speaking of parallels. I noted in my review how I found it interesting that shapeshifter Joseph should have different colored eyes.

Interestingly, this didn’t seem to represent a dual outlook on his part – rather than seeing the situation with balance and without prejudice, Joseph was very much wired with red-tinted glasses:

“What’s that they say on this side – all’s fair in love and war?”

“If they were in our shoes, they would do exactly what we’re doing”

No doubt this visual/verbal ‘contradiction’ (if you want to call it that) was done intentionally. Perhaps implying that our perspectives are not always changed by walking in someone else’s shoes. Joseph had to shift into his adopted body, meaning his ‘eyes’ were seemingly inherited from the owner. But unlike Ray, the human experience didn’t seem change his perspective.

On a symbolic level I think this works quite well and expands on the shapeshifter story without stopping to break pace. Again, nicely done.

Red Their Memories

As the two Bishops cast their minds back to the machine and what it may entail, traces of red begin to percolate around them (culminating in Astrid and her bright red shirt).

We’ve speculated for a while now that as well as being a marker for the alternate universe, the color red has also been used by the creators to represent memory. This is a nice way to remind us.

And given the memory issues being experienced by Olivia right now, it further begs the question of what the alternate universe is in the grand scheme of things. Is it an echo – a memory, or some kind of construct borne out of memories? What about the ‘blue universe’? The same questions could asked here.

Now, perhaps the show will go on to prove that both universes are ‘real’ in their own right (that also works for me), but I think it adds another level of intrigue to at least consider the ways in which the thematics play into the story.

Snap

Becky: “I look at the pictures, and I see myself in them, but I don’t know them”

Given the recent photo and memory references, I think it’s worth digging up a quote from the season 2 episode, ‘Bishop Revival':

Alfred: “One day all you will have left are pictures”

Not an earth-shattering quote, nor do I necessarily think there’s an explicit connection there. But the internal logic of the show might be saying something. It may help show how memories are being conveyed in terms of pictures quite a lot – a way of describing the meaning of the story in real world terms. It may also imply that reality is literally being ‘captured’ by the observations made by our little bald friends. Who knows.

Pen-ny For Your Thoughts?

Another piece of Over There technology, we can assume. This device looks a lot like a pen. And what with all the pen references of late..

Sea! It’s a Horse

Seahorse glyph can be spotted on the back of a book. Looks like Markham’s a glyph collector.

Glue – a book by Irvine Welsh. Will Peter be the glue that holds the universe together? What about the First People – will their Vacuum be used to heal the situation or tear fabric apart? In truth, I’m not sure that this is an intentional reference, but hey, the title works!

People First

I’ve already said quite a bit about the First People here. Although it’s worth quickly mentioning that Seamus Wiles (author of the First People book) is an anagram for Samuel Weiss.

Sam has always been an interesting figure. He’s dropped a few clues about his connections to the First People in the past. Here are some of his key quotes, now we have more context to go with them:

“When you’ve been up all night, time is just a matter of semantics” (2.16)

This episode confirmed that the First People viewed time differently from the current incumbents of earth.

“I detected that you needed company” (2.16)

Did the First People have the ability to sense how others were feeling?

“I’m older than I look. I barely remember my childhood. I’m also taller than I appear” (2.16)

Hints at Sam’s age – he could be millions of years old, if he is a First Person. His ‘taller than I appear’ comment also takes on even more intrigue. Just how tall were the First People?

“You’re a good person. One of the few I know. If you agreed to keep this secret I’m sure you had a good reason”

You could say that Sam has also protected secrets so he knows what it’s like. It’s also interesting to hear him say that Olivia is one of the few good people he knows. If he is indeed a First Person, does he not consider them to have been good people? That being said, I guess most of them were wiped out.

Atlant-Is Real

Walter reminds Astrid that history is full of extinction events, and lists Atlantis as one of them. Interesting, in part, because it’s another reference to underground (or rather, down below).

The legendary (and possibly mythical) island sank into the ocean “in a single day and night of misfortune,” and was first referenced by Plato in Timaeus and Critias (360 BC). This plays nicely with our First People mythology, certainly in regards to Seamus Wiles’ claim that the ancients were wiped from history by some kind of cataclysmic event.

Alt! Who Goes There!

A nice reflection of Altlivia, illustrating her ever so slightly splintering loyalties. Which path will she ultimately take?

First and foremost, I believe its important for her to realize that she does have a choice. There’s always a choice, as these doors help illustrate:

The Man Who Fell-er To Earth

And he bowed out looking rather ‘angelic’. I’m not sure I buy that given his earlier sentiments, but certainly it seems to be the intention behind the halo imagery.

Observing The Observer

The Observer can be seen getting his observer-on as Altlivia and Broyles watch Peter put his hand up the shapeshifters butt to examine his data storage device. Important moment, observed.

The Bluniverse!

Ah, it warms my heart. The blue lights return to switch our perspective from one universe to the other in the blink of an eye. Their actual significance has been long discussed and speculated (travel, observation, convergence, etc), but I do like their usage here (which could be viewed as travel, I guess).

Home

Reflections have always been powerful symbols, providing a glimpse into the internal world of our heroes. No less so here, as Projection Peter pops up to deliver the magic words, “you have to go home”, to which Olivia turns and looks directly into the mirror – her direction is set, her focus is clear.

The journey home is not just a physical one, but an internal..spiritual one.

Other Clues

Altlivia begins the day wearing blue.

Astrid offers to play “The Art of Fugue” by Bach to help Walter think more clearly, but the music that plays is Air on the G string. Continuity error or something more mischievous?

A well positioned globe as Walter talks about creation and destruction.

Some decent green-green-green-red thematics going on during Feller’s pulse planting in the tower.

As the two Bishop’s cast their minds back to the machine and what it may entail, traces of red begin to percolate around them (culminating in Astrid and her bright red shirt).

I read this and immediately wanted to go back and re-watch the scene, but I’m at work, so, I’ll have to wait. I completely missed the red traces easing into the scene, which given the tone of the civil, calm tone of the conversation, the red could be well mean impending danger. Especially when you consider that it’s probably at that moment Walter concedes to assist Peter rather than oppose him further, although he doesn’t verbalize this until later in the episode.

It also made me think of the numerous conversations Walter and Peter had early on and due to Peter’s animosity towards Walter, more often than not it escalated it an argument. Their conversation in this scene was such a huge step foward in terms of Peter’s maturity. He handled Walter like an adult; acknowledging his fear, but also standing firm on the decision he’s made and why. It was a great scene between the Bishops given how off things have been since their return.

We’ve speculated for a while now that as well as being a marker for the alternate universe, the color red has also been used by the creators to represent memory. This is a nice way to remind us.

This was a really nice point. This got me to thinking that if both universes are echoes of one another, what’s reality? Are we meant to tak the “Reality is a matter of perspective?” literally in the Fringe verse? I like the idea that the red universe is an independent world from the blue one, but the membrane between them represents that echo or repressed memory that shapes our characters. I hope that made sense.

The story seems to be constantly looking for connections, those subtle joining points, whether it be in the thematics, symbolism or even the portrayals. So it’s interesting to speculate how far these embellishments play into the ‘reality’ of events. Kinda like how the world around us can inform/shape our decisions (and vice-versa – ‘if you can dream a better world, you can make a better world’ – perception).

I think this episode was chock-full of duality. From the spiral stairs to the mirror reflections, to the waves, to the band U “TWO,” the notion of doubles and repetition was everywhere in this one.

Sort of the opposite of twins occured in the episode as well, however. The two-colored eyes of the shapeshifter is a the condition is called Heterochromia Iridium. One of the causes, according to geneticists, is when two fertilized eggs merge into one fetus, causing chimerism — a condition named after the mythical creature, the chimera. A chimera was a multi-creature monster — like that weird thing that impregnated Charlie!

An unrelated thing I wondered about was Nina’s significance in this episode. She had three small moments, but each of them carried some unspoken importance. It almost seemed to me that her character had some sort of awakening: calling out Olivia on her handling of Walter, attempting to influence Walter directly re: Peter and directly and pointedly addressing Astrid.

Does she have some uber-power of influence over people? We saw her calm Walter in a season 2 episode and kiss-and-influence Broyles, too. Nina struck me as significant this week and I’m grasping to understand why.

I forgot to mention Nina’s influence on this episode, too, so, thanks for bringing this out.

Nina is full of information and no doubts secrets that has kept the intrigue around her character in tact. Which leads me to wonder, if the tech was William Bell’s (although she claims he didn’t build it) what does she know about the First People that she hasn’t shared? I was actually surprised Walter didn’t inquire further since Nina made reference to Bell engineering the machine when they came to her looking for a way to cross over to rescue Peter.

I particularly enjoyed what you said about Nina’s “awakening”. That’s a really interesting way to look at it, and it will be worth keeping an eye out on her future influence and the ways that she approaches situations.

I do love me some Nina, so I look forward to seeing more of her this season.

The scene where Nina says hello to Astrid was a little suspicious looking. Not sure how to place because i think this is the first time she’s acknowledged her and then the first time Nina has ever had a full conversation with Walter following.

I don’t really have anything to add to this one… So I’ll just say that I was happy to see you highlight the reflections from this episode. They were brilliant if I do say so myself. I was particularly fond of the one at the end where our Olivia was looking in the mirror. I thought it was a nice call back to Over There when we last saw our Olivia looking in that same mirror, right after she had colored her hair to mirror alternate Olivia’s appearance. The two moments were very similar… In the first one, she was still aware of who she was and she was still processing the experience of meeting her double for the first time. In this last one, she had just barely begun to remember and accept who she truly is. In both instances, Olivia looked into that mirror, contemplating her reflection as she was about to embark on something truly epic. I just loved what that moment represented.

One other quick comment: I liked the moment when Walter was talking about the First People and he mentioned how both religion and science addressed that theory. I thought it was neat for him to show how science and religion work hand in hand and I thought it was a neat continuation of that theme that has previously shown up in Fringe.

I thought those two images were very similar as well, mlj. And it got me thinking about how much of Olivia is present and how much of Altlivia is present at this moment. I have to assume that she is still mostly Altlivia right now because Projection Peter is still there representing her true self. But Olivia is definitely breaking through. I’m wondering if we will ever get the old Olivia back? How pervasive are these memories of Altlivia? Are they fully integrated into her consciousness, never to be purged? Or will she be able to get them out like she did with John Scott’s. And if she learns to assimilate them, what would a Olivia/Altlivia hybrid look like? Would she be like one of the women we’re currently watching or something else entirely.

Sorry to hijack your post with this thought, but something about reading about the two mirror images brought all these thoughts to mind. Would love to hear Roco’s, yours, and other’s, perspectives on it.

I’ve been wondering about this myself–will she be able to separate the false memories from her real ones yet still retain the knowledge of Alt-Liv’s life and mindset? This could be an incredibly useful tool when the team travels Over There again (as I assume they will at some point.)

It would also give her incredible insight into Alt-Liv’s psyche that could go a long way toward helping her understand, and possibly forgive, the actions of her counterpart, and by extension, Peter and the rest of the team for not outing Alt-Liv sooner.

I’ve already given my view on this, but it hasn’t changed – I think Olivia has to be altered by her Altliv experience. Fragments of Altlivia will probably remain with her in various forms – she will likely lose something from this experience, but also gain something too. It think such an internal ‘transaction’ will further represent the wider ‘balancing act’ of the universe and the idea that we are shaped by those we let in. (or, in her case, those who enter).

Of course, Altlivia is Olivia in nature (as far as we know they’re genetically identical), so that adds another layer of pastry to the pie!

I agree that this is an interesting concept and that Olivia is bound to be influenced by her experience in believing that she is alternate Olivia. As you pointed out, it will be interesting to see how well she is able to separate and distinguish between herself and alternate Olivia’s memories.

However, I still expect our Olivia will mostly return. The whole idea they have conveyed here has been that who you are is largely determined by your own experiences, choices, and memories. So regaining her own memories will help her to return. Olivia is who she is. We’ve seen her own self come out from time to time even while she has thought she was alternate Olivia. And I expect in tonight’s episode, we’re going to see more of our Olivia as we last saw her in “Olivia.” Certainly, she will be changed by this experience (and it will be neat to see how much she retains of alternate Olivia’s memories and I agree that it should offer her a unique perspective) but I think she will also still retain a large amount of the Olivia we know and love… just changed slightly from her experience. Which, really, just continues to further the concept I mentioned earlier, that our experiences make us who we are. In that way, you could say that no one is ever really the same because they’re constantly going through new experiences… They’re still the same general person… just constantly changing.

“I was particularly fond of the one at the end where our Olivia was looking in the mirror. I thought it was a nice call back to Over There when we last saw our Olivia looking in that same mirror, right after she had colored her hair to mirror alternate Olivia’s appearance. The two moments were very similar… In the first one, she was still aware of who she was and she was still processing the experience of meeting her double for the first time. In this last one, she had just barely begun to remember and accept who she truly is. In both instances, Olivia looked into that mirror, contemplating her reflection as she was about to embark on something truly epic. I just loved what that moment represented.”

I liked the reel to reel recorder also. It fits into Roco’s spiral symbology too. Almost as if one dimension is spiraling or unreeling into another. Perhaps something like an Accretion disc in astrophysics.

So great all those observations! I have to say that I am probably blind because I barely see any of this when I watch, there are so many things happening that I don’t even think about looking for those eastereggs. But I’m always so thrilled to read your observations and to see that Fringe writers and creators are so clever!

Great article Roco, as usual!
I really enjoy reading both reviews and observations. They always give me some new ideas and broad my perception and give me new insights.
I just wanted to add that I’ve noticed green and red lights in opening sequence (China town in student room when boy come backs for his ID, behind him on the wall).

I’m intrigued by the Sam Weiss quote, “When you’ve been up all night, time is just a matter of semantics” (2.16) Does that mean (by “night”) he is referring to that “period of darkness” in the First People calendar? Maybe he was able to roust himself out of a cyclical slumber that the entire race of First People have to go through. Or maybe the “Vacuum” machine has something to do with getting in and out of the cycles of light and darkness. His “night” might be eons also. I can’t profess to be an expert on the “First People” calendar but I thought I recalled a discussion of it over in “Seriable” but I couldn’t locate it.

I do know there is a screencap of the calendar in the review section of this episode and is worthy to take a look at it again. (I tried to copy and paste it here without success.) That calendar also fits into the whole halo and spiral symbology too.

Sam Weiss, the only “First People” awake during their period of darkness that is our period of light. Thoughts?

“I’m intrigued by the Sam Weiss quote, “When you’ve been up all night, time is just a matter of semantics” (2.16) Does that mean (by “night”) he is referring to that “period of darkness” in the First People calendar? Maybe he was able to roust himself out of a cyclical slumber that the entire race of First People have to go through.”

Very interesting suggestion, Dave. I’ll have to give that some more thought, but I like the idea that Sam is one of the first FPs to awaken out of some sort of slumber. It would also tie into the cyclical nature of the show and the dream/sleep thematics. At this stage, it’s certainly something worth considering.

I don’t know if you read the comments on a page after a few weeks have passed, but I just noticed something from re-watching a season 1 episode. I got my girlfriend to start watching the season 1 blu rays and we just finished 1.17 Bad Dreams. When Nick pulls his gun out of his drawer, the colorful circular symbol looks very similar to this first people calendar. You have a screen shot of it in your observations article for that episode. The symbol in the drawer doesn’t look as developed as this one. Perhaps the writers didn’t develop the calendar concept fully at that point.

I just thought I’d post this in case we see this calendar linked to cortexiphan kids in the future.

I like it Pam. Observation and travel, it’s possible. In this sense, it would seem that travel would represent ‘progression’ of some sort, and not necessarily physical travel.

It will be interesting to see how steady the ‘blue light hand’ is in future episodes. So far, I’d still say that it has around 3-4 primary thematic functions. Sometimes it just seems to be thrown in for good measure, other times it has a measure of intent. Good old bluey.

It was not featured in this ep., but I just realized that Bell’s message to Walter and Walternate’s motto that: “Only those who go too far can possibly know how far they can go” is a T.S. Eliot quote. Knew it sounded familiar! Sorry if this was posted elsewhere, I have not come across it yet.

Just a question for anyone out there. What is the deal with all the food/meal references lately? There’s been at least one in every episode this season (Off the top of my head 3.01-Walter’s cookies and all three heading to dinner, 3.02-Walter’s bacon pudding, 3.03-Frank making dinner for Olivia, 3.04-Lemonade, break for dinner, animal crackers, 3.05-Olivia’s Missed lunch date, Olivia fighting with the coffee machine, Kids telling Dad to put steaks on the grill, 3.06-Walter’s concentration sandwich, Bolivia bringing Walter pastries, Peter’s breakfast in bed, and even in 3.07 Broylenate’s wife is getting dinner ready). Is it just me, or does this go beyond just normal everyday peeks into the characters lives? Even last season we first had Peter’s mom making breakfast (I LOVE Bacon!) and Bell, Walter and Olivia at KFC while Walter waxed poetic about the day he isolated the eleven herbs and spices.

I find amusing that Roco pointed out to the “spiral” imagery, which makes the typewritten message nº5 more timely. Fibonacci sequence is what defines spirals mathematically, like the spiral staircase in the picture above, or the Nautilus shell in the Glyph.

I have to disagree in many respects. Olivia had the cortexiphan which, while affecting her biologically, also caused trauma in her life. she’s always been a very serious person, and while that was obvious enough before, when we met Altlivia all of their differences were emphasized. Altlivia is cheerful and outgoing, and voices her thoughts more clearly than Olivia does. With two alternate Olivias, I’m starting to miss the cold, quiet Olive from before.

As for the First People, I think I see a reason “not to trust Sam Weiss.” The number codes were in modern languages, suggesting that the First People had some kind of serious connection with modern humans. That would suggest that they were similar to the observers in that they move through time differently than we do (serious theory: First People = August’s offspring?) and maybe they even came from us somehow (see aforementioned theory). That would explain the idea of “cycles,” that people become first people and first people become people. Now that’s where Sam comes in. The fact that he either survived or skipped over must mean that he is seriously different from the First People, and maybe even far from human. He could be an artificial human (“I barely remember my childhood”) or he could be in an infinite cycle back and forth through time himself.

I just came up with that off the top of my head. only time will tell whether or not it’s complete garbage.

“I have to disagree in many respects. Olivia had the cortexiphan which, while affecting her biologically, also caused trauma in her life. she’s always been a very serious person, and while that was obvious enough before, when we met Altlivia all of their differences were emphasized. Altlivia is cheerful and outgoing, and voices her thoughts more clearly than Olivia does. With two alternate Olivias, I’m starting to miss the cold, quiet Olive from before.”

I have to stand by my original comment. If we strip away their respective life experiences, they’d be the ‘same’, at least as far as we know.

For example, if Altlivia had experienced the same things as Olivia Over Here, then she’d be just like Olivia – Cortexiphaned, haunted, and all.

Of course, Olivia was apparently “predisposed”, so it will be interesting to see what that predisposition was. But I think it’s safe to say that their life experiences have made them as different as they are today.